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THE WORKS

OF

LORD BYRON.

A NEW, REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION,WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.

POETRY, VOLUME 1.

EDITED BY

ERNEST HARTLEY COLERIDGE, M.A.

1898

PREFACE TO THE POEMS.

The text of the present issue of Lord Byron's Poetical Works is based onthat of 'The Works of Lord Byron', in six volumes, 12mo, which waspublished by John Murray in 1831. That edition followed the text of thesuccessive issues of plays and poems which appeared in the author'slifetime, and were subject to his own revision, or that of Gifford andother accredited readers. A more or less thorough collation of theprinted volumes with the MSS. which were at Moore's disposal, yielded anumber of variorum readings which have appeared in subsequent editionspublished by John Murray. Fresh collations of the text of individualpoems with the original MSS. have been made from time to time, with theresult that the text of the latest edition (one-vol. 8vo, 1891) includessome emendations, and has been supplemented by additional variants.Textual errors of more or less importance, which had crept into thenumerous editions which succeeded the seventeen-volume edition of 1832,were in some instances corrected, but in others passed over. For thepurposes of the present edition the printed text has been collated withall the MSS. which passed through Moore's hands, and, also, for thefirst time, with MSS. of the following plays and poems, viz. 'EnglishBards, and Scotch Reviewers'; 'Childe Harold', Canto IV.; 'Don Juan',Cantos VI.-XVI.; 'Werner'; 'The Deformed Transformed'; 'Lara';'Parisina'; 'The Prophecy of Dante'; 'The Vision of Judgment'; 'The Ageof Bronze'; 'The Island'. The only works of any importance which havebeen printed directly from the text of the first edition, withoutreference to the MSS., are the following, which appeared in 'TheLiberal' (1822-23), viz.: 'Heaven and Earth', 'The Blues', and 'MorganteMaggiore'.

A new and, it is believed, an improved punctuation has been adopted. Inthis respect Byron did not profess to prepare his MSS. for the press,and the punctuation, for which Gifford is mainly responsible, has beenreconsidered with reference solely to the meaning and interpretation ofthe sentences as they occur.

In the 'Hours of Idleness and Other Early Poems', the typography of thefirst four editions, as a rule, has been preserved. A uniform typographyin accordance with modern use has been adopted for all poems of laterdate. Variants, being the readings of one or more MSS. or of successiveeditions, are printed in italics [as footnotes. text Ed] immediatelybelow the text. They are marked by Roman numerals. Words and linesthrough which the author has drawn his pen in the MSS. or Revises aremarked 'MS. erased'.

Poems and plays are given, so far as possible, in chronological order.'Childe Harold' and 'Don Juan', which were written and published inparts, are printed continuously; and minor poems, including the firstfour satires, have been arranged in groups according to the date ofcomposition. Epigrams and 'jeux d'esprit' have been placed together, inchronological order, towards the end of the sixth volume. A Bibliographyof the poems will immediately precede the Index at the close of thesixth volume.

The edition contains at least thirty hitherto unpublished poems,including fifteen stanzas of the unfinished seventeenth canto of 'DonJuan', and a considerable fragment of the third part of 'The DeformedTransformed'. The eleven unpublished poems from MSS. preserved atNewstead, which appear in the first volume, are of slight if anyliterary value, but they reflect with singular clearness and sinceritythe temper and aspirations of the tumultuous and moody stripling to whom"the numbers came," but who wisely abstained from printing them himself.

Byron's notes, of which many are published for the first time, andeditorial notes, enclosed in brackets, are printed immediately below thevariorum readings. The editorial notes are designed solely to supply thereader with references to passages in other works illustrative of thetext, or to interpret expressions and allusions which lapse of time mayhave rendered obscure.

Much of the knowledge requisite for this purpose is to be found in thearticles of the 'Dictionary of National Biography', to which the fullestacknowledgments are due; and much has been arrived at after longresearch, involving a minute examination of the literature, themagazines, and often the newspapers of the period.

Inasmuch as the poems and plays have been before the public for morethan three quarters of a century, it has not been thought necessary toburden the notes with the eulogies and apologies of the great poets andcritics who were Byron's contemporaries, and regarded his writings, bothfor good and evil, for praise and blame, from a different standpointfrom ours. Perhaps, even yet, the time has not come for a definite andpositive appreciation of his genius. The tide of feeling and opinionmust ebb and flow many times before his rank and station among the poetsof all time will be finally adjudged. The splendour of his reputation,which dazzled his own countrymen, and, for the first time, attracted theattention of a contemporary European audience to an English writer, hasfaded, and belongs to history; but the poet's work remains, inviting amore intimate and a more extended scrutiny than it has hitherto receivedin this country. The reader who cares to make himself acquainted withthe method of Byron's workmanship, to unravel his allusions, and tofollow the tenour of his verse, will, it is hoped, find some assistancein these volumes.

I beg to record my especial thanks to the Earl of Lovelace for the useof MSS. of his grandfather's poems, including unpublished fragments; forpermission to reproduce portraits in his possession; and for valuableinformation and direction in the construction of some of the notes.

My grateful acknowledgments are due to Dr. Garnett, C.B., Dr. A. H.Murray, Mr. R. E. Graves, and other officials of the British Museum, forinvaluable assistance in preparing the notes, and in compiling abibliography of the poems.

I have also to thank Mr. Leslie Stephen and others for important hintsand suggestions with regard to the interpretation of some obscurepassages in 'Hints from Horace'.

In correcting the proofs for the press, I have had the advantage of theskill and knowledge of my friend Mr. Frank E. Taylor, of Chertsey, towhom my thanks are due.

On behalf of the Publisher, I beg to acknowledge with gratitude thekindness of the Lady Dorchester, the Earl Stanhope, Lord Glenesk and SirTheodore Martin, K.C.B., for permission to examine MSS. in theirpossession; and of Mrs. Chaworth Musters, for permission to reproduceher miniature of Miss Chaworth, and for other favours. He desires alsoto acknowledge the generous assistance of Mr. and Miss Webb, of NewsteadAbbey, in permitting the publication of MS. poems, and in makingtranscripts for the press.

I need hardly add that, throughout the progress of the work, the adviceand direct assistance of Mr. John Murray and Mr. R. E. Prothero havebeen always within my reach. They have my cordial thanks.

ERNEST HARTLEY COLERIDGE.

[facsimile of title page:]

POEMS ON VARIOUS OCCASIONS.

Virginibus Puerisque Canto.

(Hor. Lib, 3. 'Ode 1'.)

The only Apology necessary to be adduced, in extenuation of any errorsin the following collection, is, that the Author has not yet completedhis nineteenth year.

December 23,1806.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE TO 'HOURS OF IDLENESS AND OTHER EARLY POEMS'.

There were four distinct issues of Byron's Juvenilia. The firstcollection, entitled 'Fugitive Pieces', was printed in quarto by S. andJ. Ridge of Newark. Two of the poems, "The Tear" and the "Reply to SomeVerses of J. M. B. Pigot, Esq.," were signed "BYRON;" but the volumeitself, which is without a title-page, was anonymous. It numberssixty-six pages, and consists of thirty-eight distinct pieces. The lastpiece, "Imitated from Catullus. To Anna," is dated November 16, 1806.The whole of this issue, with the exception of two or three copies, wasdestroyed. An imperfect copy, lacking pp. 17-20 and pp. 58-66, ispreserved at Newstead. A perfect copy, which had been retained by theRev. J. T. Becher, at whose instance the issue was suppressed, waspreserved by his family (see 'Life', by Karl Elze, 1872, p. 450), and isnow in the possession of Mr. H. Buxton Forman, C.B. A facsimile reprintof this unique volume, limited to one hundred copies, was issued, forprivate circulation only, from the Chiswick Press in 1886.

Of the thirty-eight 'Fugitive Pieces', two poems, viz. "To Caroline" and"To Mary," together with the last six stanzas of the lines, "To Miss E.P. [To Eliza]," have never been republished in any edition of Byron'sPoetical Works.

A second edition, small octavo, of 'Fugitive Pieces', entitled 'Poems onVarious Occasions', was printed by S. and J. Ridge of Newark, anddistributed in January, 1807. This volume was issued anonymously. Itnumbers 144 pages, and consists of a reproduction of thirty-six'Fugitive Pieces', and of twelve hitherto unprinted poems--forty-eightin all. For references to the distribution of this issue--limited, saysMoore, to one hundred copies--see letters to Mr. Pigot and the Earl ofClare, dated January 16, February 6, 1807, and undated letters of thesame period to Mr. William Bankes and Mr. Falkner ('Life', pp. 41, 42).The annotated copy of 'Poems on Various Occasions', referred to in thepresent edition, is in the British Museum.

Early in the summer (June--July) of 1807, a volume, small octavo, named'Hours of Idleness'--a title henceforth associated with Byron's earlypoems--was printed and published by S. and J. Ridge of Newark, and wassold by the following London booksellers: Crosby and Co.; Longman,Hurst, Rees, and Orme; F. and C. Rivington; and J, Mawman. The fulltitle is, 'Hours of Idleness; a Series of Poems Original andTranslated'. By George Gordon, Lord Byron, a Minor. It numbers 187pages, and consists of thirty-nine poems. Of these, nineteen belonged tothe original 'Fugitive Pieces', eight had first appeared in 'Poems onVarious Occasions', and twelve were published for the first time. The"Fragment of a Translation from the 9th Book of Virgil's AEneid"('sic'), numbering sixteen lines, reappears as "The Episode of Nisus andEuryalus, A Paraphrase from the AEneid, Lib. 9," numbering 406 lines.

The final collection, also in small octavo, bearing the title 'PoemsOriginal and Translated', by George Gordon, Lord Byron, second edition,was printed and published in 1808 by S. and J. Ridge of Newark, and soldby the same London booksellers as 'Hours of Idleness'. It numbers 174pages, and consists of seventeen of the original 'Fugitive Pieces', fourof those first published in 'Poems on Various Occasions', a reprint ofthe twelve poems first published in 'Hours of Idleness', and five poemswhich now appeared for the first time--thirty-eight poems in all.Neither the title nor the contents of this so-called second editioncorresponds exactly with the previous issue.

Of the thirty-eight 'Fugitive Pieces' which constitute the suppressedquarto, only seventeen appear in all three subsequent issues. Of thetwelve additions to 'Poems on Various Occasions', four were excludedfrom 'Hours of Idleness', and four more from 'Poems Original andTranslated'.

The collection of minor poems entitled 'Hours of Idleness', which hasbeen included in every edition of Byron's Poetical Works issued by JohnMurray since 1831, consists of seventy pieces, being the aggregate ofthe poems published in the three issues, 'Poems on Various Occasions','Hours of Idleness', and 'Poems Original and Translated', together withfive other poems of the same period derived from other sources.

In the present issue a general heading, "Hours of Idleness, and otherEarly Poems," has been applied to the entire collection of Early Poems,1802-1809. The quarto has been reprinted (excepting the lines "To Mary,"which Byron himself deliberately suppressed) in its entirety, and in theoriginal order. The successive additions to the 'Poems on VariousOccasions', 'Hours of Idleness', and 'Poems Original and Translated',follow in order of publication. The remainder of the series, viz. poemsfirst published in Moore's 'Life and Journals of Lord Byron' (1830);poems hitherto unpublished; poems first published in the 'Works of LordByron' (1832), and poems contributed to J. C. Hobhouse's 'Imitations andTranslations' (1809), have been arranged in chronological order. (For animportant contribution to the bibliography of the quarto of 1806, and ofthe other issues of Byron's Juvenilia, see papers by Mr. R. Edgcumbe,Mr. H. Buxton Forman, C.B., and others, in the 'Athenaeum', 1885, vol.ii. pp. 731-733, 769; and 1886, vol. i. p. 101, etc. For a collation ofthe contents of the four first issues and of certain large-paper copiesof 'Hours of Idleness', etc., see 'The Bibliography of the PoeticalWorks of Lord Byron', vol. vi. of the present edition.)

[text of facsimile pages of two different editions mentioned above:]

HOURS OF IDLENESS,

A SERIES OF POEMS,ORIGINAL AND TRANSLATED,

BY GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON,

A MINOR.

[Greek: Maet ar me mal ainee maete ti neichei.]

HOMER. Iliad, 10.

Virginibus puerisque Canto.

HORACE.

He whistled as he went for want of thought.

DRYDEN.

NEMARK:

Printed and sold by S. and J. RIDGE;

SOLD ALSO BY B CROSBY AND CO. STATIONER'S COURT;LONGMAN, HURST, REES, AND ORME, PATERNOSTER-ROW;F. AND C. RIVINGTON, ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD;AND J. MAWMAN, IN THE POULTRY;LONDON.1807

POEMSORIGINAL AND TRANSLATED by GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON,

[Greek: Maet ar me mal ainee maete ti neichei.]

HOMER, Iliad, 10.

He whistled as he went for want of thought.

DRYDEN.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE TO ENGLISH BARDS, AND SCOTCH REVIEWERS.

The MS. ('MS. M.') of the first draft of Byron's "Satire" (see Letter toPigot, October 26, 1807) is now in Mr. Murray's possession. It iswritten on folio sheets paged 6-25, 28-41, and numbers 360 lines.Mutilations on pages 12, 13, 34, 35 account for the absence of tenadditional lines.

After the publication of the January number of 'The Edinburgh Review'for 1808 (containing the critique on 'Hours of Idleness'), which wasdelayed till the end of February, Byron added a beginning and an endingto the original draft. The MSS. of these additions, which number ninetylines, are written on quarto sheets, and have been bound up with thefolios. (Lines 1-16 are missing.) The poem, which with these and otheradditions had run up to 560 lines, was printed in book form (probably byRidge of Newark), under the title of 'British Bards, A Satire'. "ThisPoem," writes Byron ['MSS. M.'], "was begun in October, 1807, in London,and at different intervals composed from that period till September,1808, when it was completed at Newstead Abbey.--B., 1808." A date, 1808,is affixed to the last line. Only one copy is extant, that which waspurchased, in 1867, from the executors of R.C. Dallas, by the Trusteesof the British Museum. Even this copy has been mutilated. Pages 17, 18,which must have contained the first version of the attack on Jeffrey(see 'English Bards', p. 332, line 439, 'note' 2), have been torn out,and quarto proof-sheets in smaller type of lines 438-527, "Hail toimmortal Jeffrey," etc., together with a quarto proof-sheet, in the sametype as 'British Bards', containing lines 540-559, "IllustriousHolland," etc., have been inserted. Hobhouse's lines (first edition,lines 247-262), which are not in the original draft, are included in'British Bards'. The insertion of the proofs increased the printedmatter to 584 lines. After the completion of this revised version of'British Bards', additions continued to be made. Marginal correctionsand MS. fragments, bound up with 'British Bards', together withforty-four lines (lines 723-726, 819-858) which do not occur in MS. M.,make up with the printed matter the 696 lines which were published inMarch, 1809, under the title of 'English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers'.The folio and quarto sheets in Mr. Murray's possession ('MS. M.') may beregarded as the MS. of 'British Bards; British Bards' (there are a fewalterations, e.g. the substitution of lines 319-326, "Moravians, arise,"etc., for the eight lines on Pratt, which are to be found in the folioMS., and are printed in 'British Bards'), with its accompanying MS.fragments, as the foundation of the text of the first edition of'English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers'.

Between the first edition, published in March, and the second edition inOctober, 1809, the difference is even greater than between the firstedition and 'British Bards'. The Preface was enlarged, and a postscriptaffixed to the text of the poem. Hobhouse's lines (first edition,247-262) were omitted, and the following additional passages inserted,viz.: (i.) lines 1-96, "Still must I hear," etc.; (ii.) lines 129-142,"Thus saith the Preacher," etc.; (iii.) lines 363-417, "But if somenew-born whim," etc.; (iv.) lines 638-706, "Or hail at once," etc.; (v.)lines 765-798, "When some brisk youth," etc.; (vi.) lines 859-880, "Andhere let Shee," etc.; (vii.) lines 949-960, "Yet what avails," etc.;(viii.) lines 973-980, "There, Clarke," etc.; (ix.) lines 1011-1070,"Then hapless Britain," etc. These additions number 370 lines, and,together with the 680 lines of the first edition (reduced from 696 bythe omission of Hobhouse's contribution), make up the 1050 lines of thesecond and third editions, and the doubtful fourth edition of 1810. Ofthese additions, Nos. i., ii., iii., iv., vi., viii., ix. exist in MS.,and are bound up with the folio MS. now in Mr. Murray's possession.

The third edition, which is, generally, dated 1810, is a replica of thesecond edition.

The first issue of the fourth edition, which appeared in 1810, isidentical with the second and third editions. A second issue of thefourth edition, dated 1811, must have passed under Byron's ownsupervision. Lines 723, 724 are added, and lines 725, 726 are materiallyaltered. The fourth edition of 1811 numbers 1052 lines.

The suppressed fifth edition, numbering 1070 lines (the copy in theBritish Museum has the title-page of the fourth edition; a second copy,in Mr. Murray's possession, has no title-page), varies from the fourthedition of 1811 by the addition of lines 97-102 and 528-539, and by sometwenty-nine emendations of the text. Eighteen of these emendations weremade by Byron in a copy of the fourth edition which belonged to LeighHunt. On another copy, in Mr. Murray's possession, Byron made nineemendations, of which six are identical with those in the Hunt copy, andthree appear for the first time. It was in the latter volume that heinscribed his after-thoughts, which are dated "B. 1816."

For a complete collation of the five editions of 'English Bards, andScotch Reviewers', and textual emendations in the two annotated volumes,and for a note on genuine and spurious copies of the first and othereditions, see 'The Bibliography of the Poetical Works of Lord Byron',vol. vi.

[Facsimile of title-page of first edition, including Byron's signature.To view this and other facsimiles, and the other illustrations mentioned inthis text, see the html edition. text Ed.]

ENGLISH BARDS,

AND

Scotch Reviewers.

A SATIRE.

I had rather be a kitten, and cry, mew! Than one of these same metre ballad-mongers.

SHAKSPEARE.

Such shameless Bards we have; and yet 'tis true, There are as mad, abandon'd Critics too.

POPE.

CONTENTS OF VOL. I.

HOURS OF IDLENESS, AND OTHER EARLY POEMS.

FUGITIVE PIECES.

Preface to the Poems Bibliographical Note to "Hours of Idleness and Other Early Poems" Bibliographical Note to "English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers" On Leaving Newstead Abbey To E---- On the Death of a Young Lady, Cousin to the Author, and very dear to Him To D---- To Caroline To Caroline [second poem] To Emma Fragments of School Exercises: From the "Prometheus Vinctus" of AEschylus Lines written in "Letters of an Italian Nun and an English Gentleman, by J.J. Rousseau: Founded on Facts" Answer to the Foregoing, Addressed to Miss---- On a Change of Masters at a Great Public School Epitaph on a Beloved Friend Adrian's Address to his Soul when Dying A Fragment To Caroline [third poem] To Caroline [fourth poem] On a Distant View of the Village and School of Harrow on the Hill, 1806 Thoughts Suggested by a College Examination To Mary, on Receiving Her Picture On the Death of Mr. Fox To a Lady who Presented to the Author a Lock of Hair Braided with his own, and appointed a Night in December to meet him in the Garden To a Beautiful Quaker To Lesbia! To Woman An Occasional Prologue, Delivered by the Author Previous to the Performance of "The Wheel of Fortune" at a Private Theatre To Eliza The Tear Reply to some Verses of J.M.B. Pigot, Esq., on the Cruelty of his Mistress Granta. A Medley To the Sighing Strephon The Cornelian To M---- Lines Addressed to a Young Lady. [As the Author was discharging his Pistols in a Garden, Two Ladies passing near the spot were alarmed by the sound of a Bullet hissing near them, to one of whom the following stanzas were addressed the next morning] Translation from Catullus. 'Ad Lesbiam' Translation of the Epitaph on Virgil and Tibullus, by Domitius Marsus Imitation of Tibullus. 'Sulpicia ad Cerinthum' Translation from Catullus. 'Lugete Veneres Cupidinesque' Imitated from Catullus. To Ellen

POEMS ON VARIOUS OCCASIONS. To M.S.G. Stanzas to a Lady, with the Poems of Camoens To M.S.G. [second poem] Translation from Horace. 'Justum et tenacem', etc. The First Kiss of Love Childish Recollections Answer to a Beautiful Poem, Written by Montgomery, Author of "The Wanderer in Switzerland," etc., entitled "The Common Lot" Love's Last Adieu Lines Addressed to the Rev. J.T. Becher, on his advising the Author to mix more with Society Answer to some Elegant Verses sent by a Friend to the Author, complaining that one of his descriptions was rather too warmly drawn Elegy on Newstead Abbey

HOURS OF IDLENESS. To George, Earl Delawarr Damaetas To Marion Oscar of Alva Translation from Anacreon. Ode I From Anacreon. Ode 3 The Episode of Nisus and Euryalus. A Paraphrase from the 'AEneid', Lib. 9 Translation from the 'Medea' of Euripides [L. 627-660] Lachin y Gair To Romance The Death of Calmar and Orla To Edward Noel Long, Esq. To a Lady

POEMS ORIGINAL AND TRANSLATED. When I Roved a Young Highlander To the Duke of Dorset To the Earl of Clare I would I were a Careless Child Lines Written beneath an Elm in the Churchyard of Harrow

Why dost thou build the hall, Son of the winged days? Thou lookest from thy tower to-day: yet a few years, and the blast of the desart comes: it howls in thy empty court.-OSSIAN. [1]

I.

Through thy battlements, Newstead, [2] the hollow winds whistle: [ii] Thou, the hall of my Fathers, art gone to decay; In thy once smiling garden, the hemlock and thistle Have choak'd up the rose, which late bloom'd in the way.

2.

Of the mail-cover'd Barons, who, proudly, to battle, [iii] Led their vassals from Europe to Palestine's plain, [3] The escutcheon and shield, which with ev'ry blast rattle, Are the only sad vestiges now that remain.

3.

No more doth old Robert, with harp-stringing numbers, Raise a flame, in the breast, for the war-laurell'd wreath; Near Askalon's towers, John of Horistan [4] slumbers, Unnerv'd is the hand of his minstrel, by death.

4.

Paul and Hubert too sleep in the valley of Cressy; For the safety of Edward and England they fell: My Fathers! the tears of your country redress ye: How you fought! how you died! still her annals can tell.

5.

On Marston, [5] with Rupert, [6] 'gainst traitors contending, Four brothers enrich'd, with their blood, the bleak field; For the rights of a monarch their country defending, [iv] Till death their attachment to royalty seal'd. [7]

6.

Shades of heroes, farewell! your descendant departing From the seat of his ancestors, bids you adieu! [v] Abroad, or at home, your remembrance imparting New courage, he'll think upon glory and you.

7.

Though a tear dim his eye at this sad separation, [vi] 'Tis nature, not fear, that excites his regret; [vii] Far distant he goes, with the same emulation, The fame of his Fathers he ne'er can forget. [viii]

8.

That fame, and that memory, still will he cherish; [ix] He vows that he ne'er will disgrace your renown: Like you will he live, or like you will he perish; When decay'd, may he mingle his dust with your own!

1803.

[Footnote 1: The motto was prefixed in _Hours of Idleness_.]

[Footnote 2: The priory of Newstead, or de Novo Loco, in Sherwood, wasfounded about the year 1170, by Henry II. On the dissolution of themonasteries it was granted (in 1540) by Henry VIII. to "Sir John Byronthe Little, with the great beard." His portrait is still preserved atNewstead.]

[Footnote 3: No record of any crusading ancestors in the Byron familycan be found. Moore conjectures that the legend was suggested by somegroups of heads on the old panel-work at Newstead, which appear torepresent Christian soldiers and Saracens, and were, most probably, putup before the Abbey came into the possession of the family.]

[Footnote 5: The battle of Marston Moor, where the adherents of CharlesI. were defeated.]

[Footnote 6: Son of the Elector Palatine, and related to Charles I. Heafterwards commanded the Fleet, in the reign of Charles II.]

[Footnote 7: Sir Nicholas Byron, the great-grandson of Sir John Byronthe Little, distinguished himself in the Civil Wars. He is described byClarendon (_Hist, of the Rebellion_, 1807, i. 216) as "a person of greataffability and dexterity, as well as martial knowledge." He was Governorof Carlisle, and afterwards Governor of Chester. His nephew andheir-at-law, Sir John Byron, of Clayton, K.B. (1599-1652), was raised tothe peerage as Baron Byron of Rochdale, after the Battle of Newbury,October 26, 1643. He held successively the posts of Lieutenant of theTower, Governor of Chester, and, after the expulsion of the Royal Familyfrom England, Governor to the Duke of York. He died childless, and wassucceeded by his brother Richard, the second lord, from whom the poetwas descended. Five younger brothers, as Richard's monument in thechancel of Hucknall Torkard Church records, "faithfully served KingCharles the First in the Civil Wars, suffered much for their loyalty,and lost all their present fortunes." (See _Life of Lord Byron_, by KarlElze: Appendix, Note (A), p. 436.)]

'Through the cracks in these battlements loud the winds whistle For the hall of my fathers is gone to decay; And in yon once gay garden the hemlock and thistle Have choak'd up the rose, which late bloom'd in the way'.

Yet is remembrance of those virtues dear, Yet fresh the memory of that beauteous face; Still they call forth my warm affection's tear, Still in my heart retain their wonted place. [i]

1802.

[Footnote 1: The author claims the indulgence of the reader more forthis piece than, perhaps, any other in the collection; but as it waswritten at an earlier period than the rest (being composed at the age offourteen), and his first essay, he preferred submitting it to theindulgence of his friends in its present state, to making eitheraddition or alteration.--[4to]

"My first dash into poetry was as early as 1800. It was the ebullition of a passion for--my first cousin, Margaret Parker (daughter and granddaughter of the two Admirals Parker), one of the most beautiful of evanescent beings. I have long forgotten the verse; but it would be difficult for me to forget her--her dark eyes--her long eye-lashes--her completely Greek cast of face and figure! I was then about twelve--she rather older, perhaps a year. She died about a year or two afterwards, in consequence of a fall, which injured her spine, and induced consumption ... I knew nothing of her illness, being at Harrow and in the country till she was gone. Some years after, I made an attempt at an elegy--a very dull one."--_Byron Diary_, 1821; _Life_, p. 17.

[Margaret Parker was the sister of Sir Peter Parker, whose death atBaltimore, in 1814, Byron celebrated in the "Elegiac Stanzas," whichwere first published in the poems attached to the seventh edition of_Childe Harold_.]

[Footnote i: _Such sorrow brings me honour, not disgrace_. [4to]]

TO D---[1]

1.

In thee, I fondly hop'd to clasp A friend, whom death alone could sever; Till envy, with malignant grasp, [i] Detach'd thee from my breast for ever.

[Footnote 1: The Greek heading does not appear in the Quarto, nor in thethree first Editions.]

[Footnote 2: "My first Harrow verses (that is, English, as exercises), atranslation of a chorus from the 'Prometheus' of AEschylus, were receivedby Dr. Drury, my grand patron (our headmaster), but coolly. No one had,at that time, the least notion that I should subside intopoetry."--'Life', p. 20. The lines are not a translation but a looseadaptation or paraphrase of part of a chorus of the 'PrometheusVinctus', I, 528, 'sq.']

LINES

WRITTEN IN "LETTERS OF AN ITALIAN NUN AND AN ENGLISH GENTLEMAN,BY J. J. ROUSSEAU; [1] FOUNDED ON FACTS."

"Away, away,--your flattering arts May now betray some simpler hearts; And _you_ will _smile_ at their believing, And _they_ shall _weep_ at your deceiving."

[Footnote 1: A second edition of this work, of which the title is,_Letters, etc., translated from the French of Jean Jacques Rousseau_,was published in London, in 1784. It is, probably, a literary forgery.]

ANSWER TO THE FOREGOING, [i] ADDRESSED TO MISS----.

Dear simple girl, those flattering arts, (From which thou'dst guard frail female hearts,)[ii] Exist but in imagination, Mere phantoms of thine own creation; [iii] For he who views that witching grace, That perfect form, that lovely face, With eyes admiring, oh! believe me, He never wishes to deceive thee: Once in thy polish'd mirror glance [iv] Thou'lt there descry that elegance Which from our sex demands such praises, But envy in the other raises.-- Then he who tells thee of thy beauty, [v] Believe me, only does his duty: Ah! fly not from the candid youth; It is not flattery,--'tis truth. [vi]

July, 1804.

[Footnote i: _Answer to the above._ [4to] ]

[Footnote ii: _From which you'd._ [4to] ]

[Footnote iii:

_Mere phantoms of your own creation; For he who sees_. [4to]]

[Footnote iv:

_Once let you at your mirror glance You'll there descry that elegance,_ [4to]]

[Footnote v:

_Then he who tells you of your beauty._ [4to]]

[Footnote vi:

_It is not flattery, but truth_. [4to]]

ON A CHANGE OF MASTERS AT A GREAT PUBLIC SCHOOL. [1]

Where are those honours, IDA! once your own, When Probus fill'd your magisterial throne? As ancient Rome, fast falling to disgrace, Hail'd a Barbarian in her Caesar's place, So you, degenerate, share as hard a fate, And seat _Pomposus_ where your _Probus_ sate. Of narrow brain, yet of a narrower soul, [i] Pomposus holds you in his harsh controul; Pomposus, by no social virtue sway'd, With florid jargon, and with vain parade; With noisy nonsense, and new-fangled rules, (Such as were ne'er before enforc'd in schools.) [ii] Mistaking _pedantry_ for _learning's_ laws, He governs, sanction'd but by self-applause; With him the same dire fate, attending Rome, Ill-fated Ida! soon must stamp your doom: Like her o'erthrown, for ever lost to fame, No trace of science left you, but the name,

HARROW, July, 1805.

[Footnote 1: In March, 1805, Dr. Drury, the Probus of the piece,retired from the Head-mastership of Harrow School, and was succeeded byDr. Butler, the Pomposus. "Dr. Drury," said Byron, in one of hisnote-books, "was the best, the kindest (and yet strict, too) friend Iever had; and I look upon him still as a father." Out of affection tohis late preceptor, Byron advocated the election of Mark Drury to thevacant post, and hence his dislike of the successful candidate. He wasreconciled to Dr. Butler before departing for Greece, in 1809, and inhis diary he says, "I treated him rebelliously, and have been sorry eversince." (See allusions in and notes to "Childish Recollections," pp.84-106, and especially note I, p. 88, notes I and 2, p. 89, and note I,p. 91.)] ]

Oh, Friend! for ever lov'd, for ever dear! [i] What fruitless tears have bathed thy honour'd bier! What sighs re-echo'd to thy parting breath, Whilst thou wast struggling in the pangs of death! Could tears retard the tyrant in his course; Could sighs avert his dart's relentless force; Could youth and virtue claim a short delay, Or beauty charm the spectre from his prey; Thou still hadst liv'd to bless my aching sight, Thy comrade's honour and thy friend's delight. If yet thy gentle spirit hover nigh The spot where now thy mouldering ashes lie, Here wilt thou read, recorded on my heart, A grief too deep to trust the sculptor's art. No marble marks thy couch of lowly sleep, But living statues there are seen to weep; Affliction's semblance bends not o'er thy tomb, Affliction's self deplores thy youthful doom. What though thy sire lament his failing line, A father's sorrows cannot equal mine! Though none, like thee, his dying hour will cheer, Yet other offspring soothe his anguish here: But, who with me shall hold thy former place? Thine image, what new friendship can efface? Ah, none!--a father's tears will cease to flow, Time will assuage an infant brother's woe; To all, save one, is consolation known, While solitary Friendship sighs alone.

HARROW, 1803. [2]

[Footnote i:

_Oh Boy! for ever loved, for ever dear! What fruitless tears have wash'd thy honour'd bier; What sighs re-echoed to thy parting breath, Whilst thou wert struggling in the pangs of death. Could tears have turn'd the tyrant in his course, Could sighs have checked his dart's relentless force; [iii] Could youth and virtue claim a short delay, Or beauty charm the spectre from his prey, Thou still had'st liv'd to bless my aching sight, Thy comrade's honour, and thy friend's delight: Though low thy lot since in a cottage born, No titles did thy humble name adorn, To me, far dearer, was thy artless love, Than all the joys, wealth, fame, and friends could prove. For thee alone I liv'd, or wish'd to live, (Oh God! if impious, this rash word forgive,) Heart-broken now, I wait an equal doom, Content to join thee in thy turf-clad tomb; Where this frail form compos'd in endless rest, I'll make my last, cold, pillow on thy breast; That breast where oft in life, I've laid my head, Will yet receive me mouldering with the dead; This life resign'd, without one parting sigh, Together in one bed of earth we'll lie! Together share the fate to mortals given, Together mix our dust, and hope for Heaven._

HARROW, 1803.--[4to. _P. on V. Occasions._]]

[Footnote 1: The heading which appears in the Quarto and _P. on V.Occasions_ was subsequently changed to "Epitaph on a Friend." The mottowas prefixed in 'Hours of Idleness'. The epigram which Bergk leavesunder Plato's name was translated by Shelley ('Poems', 1895, iii.361)--

"Thou wert the morning star Among the living, Ere thy fair light had fled; Now having died, thou art as Hesperus, giving New splendour to the dead."

There is an echo of the Greek distich in Byron's exquisite line, "TheMorning-Star of Memory."

The words, "Southwell, March 17," are added, in a lady's hand, on p. 9of the annotated copy of P. 'on' V. 'Occasions' in the British Museum.The conjecture that the "'beloved' friend," who is of humble origin, isidentical with "E----" of the verses on p. 4, remains uncertain.]

When, to their airy hall, my Fathers' voice Shall call my spirit, joyful in their choice; When, pois'd upon the gale, my form shall ride, Or, dark in mist, descend the mountain's side; Oh! may my shade behold no sculptur'd urns, To mark the spot where earth to earth returns! No lengthen'd scroll, no praise-encumber'd stone; [i] My _epitaph_ shall be my name alone: [2] If _that_ with honour fail to crown my clay, [ii] Oh! may no other fame my deeds repay! _That_, only _that_, shall single out the spot; By that remember'd, or with that forgot. [iii]

1803.

[Footnote 1: There is no heading in the Quarto.]

[Footnote 2: In his will, drawn up in 1811, Byron gave directions that"no inscription, save his name and age, should be written on his tomb."June, 1819, he wrote to Murray: "Some of the epitaphs at the Certosacemetery, at Ferrara, pleased me more than the more splendid monumentsat Bologna; for instance, 'Martini Luigi Implora pace.' Can anything bemore full of pathos? I hope whoever may survive me will see those twowords, and no more, put over me."--'Life', pp. 131, 398.]

[Footnote: i.

'No lengthen'd scroll of virtue and renown.'

[4to. P. on V. Occ.]]

[Footnote: ii.

'If that with honour fails,'

[4to]]

[Footnote: iii.

'But that remember'd, or fore'er forgot'.

[4to. 'P. on V. Occasions'.]]

TO CAROLINE. [1]

1.

Oh! when shall the grave hide for ever my sorrow? Oh! when shall my soul wing her flight from this clay? The present is hell! and the coming to-morrow But brings, with new torture, the curse of to-day.

2.

From my eye flows no tear, from my lips flow no curses, [i] I blast not the fiends who have hurl'd me from bliss; For poor is the soul which, bewailing, rehearses Its querulous grief, when in anguish like this--

3.

Was my eye, 'stead of tears, with red fury flakes bright'ning, Would my lips breathe a flame which no stream could assuage, On our foes should my glance launch in vengeance its lightning, With transport my tongue give a loose to its rage.

4.

But now tears and curses, alike unavailing, Would add to the souls of our tyrants delight; Could they view us our sad separation bewailing, Their merciless hearts would rejoice at the sight.

5.

Yet, still, though we bend with a feign'd resignation, Life beams not for us with one ray that can cheer; Love and Hope upon earth bring no more consolation, In the grave is our hope, for in life is our fear.

6.

Oh! when, my ador'd, in the tomb will they place me, Since, in life, love and friendship for ever are fled? If again in the mansion of death I embrace thee, Perhaps they will leave unmolested--the dead.

1805.

[Footnote 1: [To------.--[4to].]]

[Footnote i: 'fall no curses'.--[4to. 'P. on V. Occasions'.]]

TO CAROLINE. [1]

1.

When I hear you express an affection so warm, Ne'er think, my belov'd, that I do not believe; For your lip would the soul of suspicion disarm, And your eye beams a ray which can never deceive.

2.

Yet still, this fond bosom regrets, while adoring, That love, like the leaf, must fall into the sear, That Age will come on, when Remembrance, deploring, Contemplates the scenes of her youth, with a tear;

3.

That the time must arrive, when, no longer retaining Their auburn, those locks must wave thin to the breeze, When a few silver hairs of those tresses remaining, Prove nature a prey to decay and disease.

4.

Tis this, my belov'd, which spreads gloom o'er my features, Though I ne'er shall presume to arraign the decree Which God has proclaim'd as the fate of his creatures, In the death which one day will deprive you of me. [i]

5.

Mistake not, sweet sceptic, the cause of emotion, [ii] No doubt can the mind of your lover invade; He worships each look with such faithful devotion, A smile can enchant, or a tear can dissuade.

6.

But as death, my belov'd, soon or late shall o'ertake us, And our breasts, which alive with such sympathy glow, Will sleep in the grave, till the blast shall awake us, When calling the dead, in Earth's bosom laid low.

7.

Oh! then let us drain, while we may, draughts of pleasure, Which from passion, like ours, must unceasingly flow; [iii] Let us pass round the cup of Love's bliss in full measure, And quaff the contents as our nectar below.

1805.

[Footnote 1: [There is no heading in the Quarto.]]

[Footnote i: _will deprive me of thee_.--[4to]]

[Footnote ii:

_No jargon of priests o'er our union was mutter'd, To rivet the fetters of husband and wife; By our lips, by our hearts, were our vows alone utter'd, To perform them, in full, would ask more than a life_.--[4to]]

[Footnote iii: _will unceasingly flow_.--[4to]]

ON A DISTANT VIEW OF THE VILLAGE AND SCHOOL OF HARROW ON THE HILL, 1806.

Oh! mihi praeteritos referat si Jupiter annos.[1]

VIRGIL.

1.

Ye scenes of my childhood, whose lov'd recollection Embitters the present, compar'd with the past; Where science first dawn'd on the powers of reflection, And friendships were form'd, too romantic to last; [2]

2.

Where fancy, yet, joys to retrace the resemblance Of comrades, in friendship and mischief allied; [3] How welcome to me your ne'er fading remembrance, [i] Which rests in the bosom, though hope is deny'd!

3.

Again I revisit the hills where we sported, The streams where we swam, and the fields where we fought; [4] The school where, loud warn'd by the bell, we resorted, To pore o'er the precepts by Pedagogues taught.

4.

Again I behold where for hours I have ponder'd, As reclining, at eve, on yon tombstone [5] I lay; Or round the steep brow of the churchyard I wander'd, To catch the last gleam of the sun's setting ray.

5.

I once more view the room, with spectators surrounded, Where, as Zanga, [6] I trod on Alonzo o'erthrown; While, to swell my young pride, such applauses resounded, I fancied that Mossop [7] himself was outshone.

6.

Or, as Lear, I pour'd forth the deep imprecation, By my daughters, of kingdom and reason depriv'd; Till, fir'd by loud plaudits and self-adulation, I regarded myself as a _Garrick_ reviv'd. [ii]

7.

Ye dreams of my boyhood, how much I regret you! Unfaded your memory dwells in my breast; [iii] Though sad and deserted, I ne'er can forget you: Your pleasures may still be in fancy possest.

8.

To Ida full oft may remembrance restore me, [iv] While Fate shall the shades of the future unroll! Since Darkness o'ershadows the prospect before me, More dear is the beam of the past to my soul!

9.

But if, through the course of the years which await me, Some new scene of pleasure should open to view, I will say, while with rapture the thought shall elate me, "Oh! such were the days which my infancy knew." [8]

1806.

[Footnote 1: The motto was prefixed in 'Hours of Idleness'.]

[Footnote 2:

"My school-friendships were with me _passions_ (for I was always violent), but I do not know that there is one which has endured (to be sure, some have been cut short by death) till now."

'Diary', 1821; 'Life', p. 21.]

[Footnote 3: Byron was at first placed in the house of Mr. HenryDrury, but in 1803 was removed to that of Mr. Evans.

"The reason why Lord Byron wishes for the change, arises from the repeated complaints of Mr. Henry Drury respecting his inattention to business, and his propensity to make others laugh and disregard their employment as much as himself."

Dr. Joseph Drury to Mr. John Hanson.]

[Footnote 4:

"At Harrow I fought my way very fairly. I think I lost but one battle out of seven."

'Diary', 1821; 'Life', p. 21.]

[Footnote 5: A tomb in the churchyard at Harrow was so well known to behis favourite resting-place, that the boys called it "Byron's Tomb:" andhere, they say, he used to sit for hours, wrapt up in thought.--'Life',p. 26.]

[Footnote 6: For the display of his declamatory powers, on thespeech-days, he selected always the most vehement passages; such as thespeech of Zanga over the body of Alonzo, and Lear's address to thestorm.--'Life', p. 20, 'note'; and 'post', p. 103, 'var'. i.]

[Footnote 7: Henry Mossop (1729-1773), a contemporary of Garrick, famousfor his performance of "Zanga" in Young's tragedy of 'The Revenge'.]

[Footnote 8: Stanzas 8 and 9 first appeared in 'Hours of Idleness'.]

[Footnote i: 'How welcome once more'.

[4to]]

[Footnote ii:

'I consider'd myself'.

[4to]]

[Footnote iii:

'As your memory beams through this agonized breast; Thus sad and deserted, I n'er can forget you, Though this heart throbs to bursting by anguish possest.

[4to]

Your memory beams through this agonized breast.--

[P. on V. Occasions.']

[Footnote iv:

'I thought this poor brain, fever'd even to madness, Of tears as of reason for ever was drain'd; But the drops which now flow down _this_ bosom of sadness, Convince me the springs have some moisture retain'd'.

'Sweet scenes of my childhood! your blest recollection, Has wrung from these eyelids, to weeping long dead, In torrents, the tears of my warmest affection, The last and the fondest, I ever shall shed'.

[4to. 'P. on V. Occasions'.]

THOUGHTS SUGGESTED BY A COLLEGE EXAMINATION.

High in the midst, surrounded by his peers, Magnus [1] his ample front sublime uprears: [i] Plac'd on his chair of state, he seems a God, While Sophs [2] and Freshmen tremble at his nod; As all around sit wrapt in speechless gloom, [ii] _His_ voice, in thunder, shakes the sounding dome; Denouncing dire reproach to luckless fools, Unskill'd to plod in mathematic rules.

Happy the youth! in Euclid's axioms tried, Though little vers'd in any art beside; 10 Who, scarcely skill'd an English line to pen, [iii] Scans Attic metres with a critic's ken.

What! though he knows not how his fathers bled, When civil discord pil'd the fields with dead, When Edward bade his conquering bands advance, Or Henry trampled on the crest of France: Though marvelling at the name of _Magna Charta_, Yet well he recollects the _laws_ of _Sparta_; Can tell, what edicts sage _Lycurgus_ made, While _Blackstone's_ on the _shelf_, _neglected_ laid; 20 Of _Grecian dramas_ vaunts the deathless fame, Of _Avon's bard_, rememb'ring scarce the name.

Such is the youth whose scientific pate Class-honours, medals, fellowships, await; Or even, perhaps, the _declamation_ prize, If to such glorious height, he lifts his eyes. But lo! no _common_ orator can hope The envied silver cup within his scope: Not that our _heads_ much eloquence require, Th' ATHENIAN'S [3] glowing style, or TULLY'S fire. 30 A _manner_ clear or warm is useless, since [iv] We do not try by _speaking_ to _convince_; Be other _orators_ of pleasing _proud_,-- We speak to _please_ ourselves, not _move_ the crowd: Our gravity prefers the _muttering_ tone, A proper mixture of the _squeak_ and _groan_: No borrow'd _grace_ of _action_ must be seen, The slightest motion would displease the _Dean_; Whilst every staring Graduate would prate,